Today we talk about the curiousness of cubes and a lack of distracting yellow hats. I speak of Curiosity: What’s Inside The Cube, Peter Molyneux and 22cans’ new mobile game. A game of curiousity and hope.
Now, doesn’t that sound like the most depressing thing in the world?
The idea and thought behind Curiosity is a wonderful one indeed. The concept of people banding together for a goal that they may or may not see is a strangely interesting one. To see it working in practice is almost heartwarming indeed, but that is a whole other problem in itself. I think Christian Donlan best describes this strange utopia in which people are seemingly happy to tap away at these monoliths of destruction in this article on Eurogamer.
I agree with Christian on two things; Why people are tapping away at this and what is most likely hiding at the centre of the cube.
We know that there’s a video link in the cube. A video that only one person will definitely get to see. Whether or not they share that video is up to them. I wouldn’t be surprised if roughly half of the people tapping away at the cube are only doing so in order to keep that video all to themselves, so that they might be sacrosanct in the eyes of the public. Most likely though, people are tapping away at the cube because Molyneux made it. Everyone wants to be part of the legend. This is a one-time event and it’s sure to be special to many gamers regardless of if they see the video or not.
This is why it’s called Curiosity. More than anything else, we just want to know what lies at the heart of this thing, and we want to be a part of that.
You know what? I’m far more than OK with that. I love anything that can bring together people and forge a community. It’s the kind of thing that everyone should want to be a part of and that so many people are trying to be a part of. Whether you’re just tapping away at the layers of the cube or if you’re defiantly drawing giant penises across the surface of it; you are part of a much larger thing that will be remembered for better or worse.
To the meat of my post though, we must consider what is actually inside the cube and why this is such a depressing thing.
I’ve heard a lot of theories about what the mysterious video at the heart of all this could be. It could be gold, jewels, power – all of which are unlikely. It could just be a video of Molyneux sitting in his chair, maybe talking to himself about gold, jewels and power. It could just be Molyneux. The answer that crops up most is that it could be ‘hope’ or ‘the journey’. Something intangible that will make our chests swell with pride, or at least should make our chests swell with pride.
I personally think it is going to be a video message describing hope. Hope for the gaming industry. Hope for the community. Hope for us all. What better way to convey that message than to get thousands of people eagerly chipping away at it as well? Like I said before: a community is always something to be proud of and it’s something that everyone wants to be a part of. The inherent flaw in it being something as mediocre as hope is the dark and depressing thing though.
Everybody has been speculating about what’s inside the cube ever since Molyneux announced it and explained the concept. Everyone was excited and that is the thing that first drew the community together. This is where the danger begins.
Humans have some sort of auto-hipster reflex built into them. As soon as the idea that the centre of the cube might contain something like hope was thought up, you can guarantee there was someone decrying that very value. Apparently something as grand as hope or experiencing this once-in-a-lifetime journey isn’t enough for those people.
These people aren’t so few in number. They’re everywhere; from social media to reputable gaming websites and magazines. They’re everyone, from your friends and co-workers to news breakers and developers.
My issue is with their disillusionment at the whole situation. I can’t say that they’ve got some tunnel-vision effect going on, and they can only see the outcome of the video itself as opposed to the communal effort that precedes, but I also can’t say that the do see that. These people offer their opinions anywhere they can, making sure that everyone knows that the wonderful heart of the cube could be complete and utter crap. Not once have I seen someone post on Twitter or Facebook saying “I want to see what’s inside the cube”, but too many times I’ve seen people say “The heart of the cube isn’t worth it” in one way or another.
It’s like some sad comment on humanity in general, except the only thing that’s getting flak is the cube. When Molyneux first explained the cube he described a journey that so many of us want to take, but in practice there seem to be just as many people who’d rather make a bad joke out of a good situation for nothing other than a laugh. I feel almost like I’m the only person sat here thinking about how amazing this cube is just for what it represents.
I don’t expect anything of Curiosity: What’s Inside The Cube, but I do feel like I expect something of the gaming community. Right now I just feel kind of let down by them.
The cube and what’s inside it are just things. The journey we’re taking getting there are truly wonderful. Just think about that.
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